


down these old country lanes

by mochiho (pining)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sweet Home Alabama Fusion, Forced co-habitation, It's only a Sweet Home Alabama fic you look really hard, M/M, Rating May Change, Second Chances, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 21:44:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11677686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pining/pseuds/mochiho
Summary: After the death of his only remaining parent, Do Kyungsoo is forced to return to home to Goheung County, where he has no choice but to relive the old memories he tried to bury after leaving six years ago.





	down these old country lanes

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone _!_
> 
>  __  
> so it's been a while and the first thing i want to do is apologize for taking so long with the **park chanyeol is straight** update. i don't really have any excuse, only the fact that i need to be in a certain state of mind when i write it and i just haven't been able to get there recently. i love that fact that you guys love that fic and it means the world to me that you are waiting for the update, it will happen. also, i can't believe i've been writing that g*rbage for an entire year i am so sorry, it wasn't meant to go on this long.  
>  ANYWAY, here's the first chapter of a fic i've been working on for a while. i hope you guys can trust me enough to update it, and i will. most of this fic is planned out already so updates take as long as.. others on this account. 
> 
>  
> 
> this is unbeta'd and edited by myself, all mistakes are my own. i hope you enjoy.

When Kyungsoo was seven years old he fell down a well. It was old, the water level below satisfactory and the rocks built up around it were crumbling back into dust. He had been playing a game with his friends, hide and go seek. The young boy thought he was an absolute genius for his hiding spot. The group of them left Baekhyun leaning against a tree in the Choi’s field, small hands pressed against his eyes as he called out the numbers he was counting.  
  
Kyungsoo ran as fast as he could into the forest, trying to lose anyone who tried to follow, and cut down an overgrown, almost forgotten path. There were a few homes in this area, just as forgotten, just as overgrown, and Kyungsoo leaned over the side of the well as he approached it. A piece of rock crumbled in his hands. He climbed over slowly and reached over to grab the fraying rope between his fingers, he pulled a few times to test the strength and began to lower himself down. He didn't intend to go all the way to the bottom, just enough to hide his head from the view of anyone who walked by.  
  
He perched the soles of his feet against the cobblestone and tightened his grip on the rope. He wasn't sure how long he would have to stay here. Their games usually lasted all day, so he shimmied down a bit further until he was able to rest his feet on a protruding bit of earth.  
  
He doesn’t remember much else after that. Only the booming voice of one of his other friends and the way he felt his heart climb out of his throat in surprise. He remembers his feet sliding against the ground and his fingers slipping from where they were holding tight to the rope. He remembers the way his back arched in pain as he landed flat on the bottom of the well, the way his lungs felt like they were collapsing as all the air was forced out of them. He can still feel the water soaking into his clothes, lapping over his arms, his chin.  
  
Twenty years later Kyungsoo was in a similar predicament. He hasn't fallen down a well but instead, he's standing outside a board room, his cell phone clasped in his shaking fingers, pressed back against the cold glass wall. His free hand clutches at his chest as he listens to the voice drone out through the speaker and he rubs against his aching heart as the last few words slip through.  
  
He replays it again. Just in case. Just to be sure it's real.

There's a knock on the door beside him and Kyungsoo straightens up as it's pushed open, one of his hands coming to press against his wet eyes. Minseok’s small face peeks through the space and Kyungsoo nods in invitation.

“Is everything alright Kyungsoo?” He asks, closing the door behind him.

Kyungsoo nods again and this time he takes a wary glance into the room beside him. The rest of the team is suddenly really interested in the blank slide projected on the screen.

“Let's go talk in my office, yeah?”  
  


*

 

Kyungsoo folds his hands in his lap as he settled down into the worn leather chair, it groans in protest but both he and Minseok ignore the noise. There's still unshed tears clinging to his eyelashes and he blinks a few times to his vision. Minseok doesn't say anything quite yet. He lets the silence settle of the both of them like a blanket.

Kyungsoo goes to open his mouth but Minseok holds a hand up to stop him. “How long do you need?”

Kyungsoo’s mouth falls opens. “I— not long.” He diverts his eyes to the water stained carpet beneath his feet. “Two weeks?”

Minseok's eyebrows furrow in concern. “That's barely any time at all.” He pulls open a calendar on his desktop. From where Kyungsoo is sitting he can several alerts blinking on his screen. “I'm giving you the full month.”

Kyungsoo leans forward and places a hand on the side of Minseok’s desk. His head is throbbing and he can hear the water — no the blood, it's blood — crashing against his eardrums. “I don't need a month,” Kyungsoo tells him. He doesn't want it. He can't stay there that long.

“You'll take what I give you, if anything goes wrong I'll get ahold of Yifan. Though I doubt it will, the content you've given Luhan is enough to hold the readers for the next  _ year _ .” Minseok says, smiling fondly. “Now go before I give you two.”

 

*

 

The rope strap of his bag tears at Kyungsoo’s skin as he hoists into the bus’ luggage compartment, he knows that there’s usually a worker assigned to do this but seeing as he is one of only seven people on this bus he doesn’t mind doing it himself. This specific compartment is empty save for Kyungsoo’s own bag. it looks completely new, despite the fact that Kyungsoo has owned it for several years now. 

He shuffles into the bus behind an elderly gentleman, shows his recently purchased ticket to the lady behind the wheel and settles down into his seat at the back of the bus. The bus lurches forward just as he leans his head back against his seat and he dozes off right then, the sound of the humming engine lulling him to sleep.

He's woken up though, who knows how long later by his phone buzzing in his pocket. Yifan's name flashes on the screen as he pulls it out of his pocket and Kyungsoo feels his stomach drop. Fuck. He wipes his sweating palm across his face and holds the device up to his ear as he hits the green accept button.

"Soo, where are you?" His voice is distant even through the phone and Kyungsoo curls into it on his seat, his head resting on the cool leather, his eyes staring out the window.

Kyungsoo twists his lips. "I left a note for you."

Yifan sighs and even though Kyungsoo can't see him he knows he's pacing the floor of their kitchen. The tiles are worn down in that specific spot, right beside the counter. After a few minutes of the endless walking, he'll turn and place his palms against it, lean over and just stand there. Kyungsoo usually watches it unfold from his spot on the couch, unless he's the reason for the pacing in the first place, like now.

"A note?" His voice is muffled and Kyungsoo's eyebrows knit together, "A fucking note Kyungsoo?"

Kyungsoo frowns at his tone and shifts in his seat. Seoul was a pinpoint in the distance, the looming skyscrapers and dingy streets now replaced by endless mountains and fields. Kyungsoo's mouth falls open in awe. He's seen them so many times before but still, every time he's amazed at how they seem to go on forever. He presses his palm against the window, watches the reflection of himself in it. His lips twitch. At a certain angle, it almost makes it seem there's someone on the other side.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," A pause. "I'm sorry, I know I have an odd habit of disappearing every once in awhile but I really do have a good reason for it this time."

Yifan sighs. "I know I read the note, just..." He exhales deeply. "Are you going to come back?"

Kyungsoo's heart lurches in his chest and presses his palm against the aching muscle. "Of course."  
  


*

 

_ " _ Hi... _ I'm not entirely sure if this is the right number, I found it online but... Is this Do Kyungsoo?" There's a soft laugh. "This is a message right, uh, you can't answer me." A few papers rustle in the background. "I'm going to continue now so I apologize if you're not the man I'm looking for." A pause. "Your father, Do Sungki, died a few days ago. He was getting sick and while we have a lovely new doctor in town, there wasn't much he could do with his limited resources and your father, ever the stubborn man refused to go to the mainland for treatment. You're his only living kin and in his will, he requested you return home for his burial. I hope you will honor his last wish." _  
  


*

 

Kyungsoo could still remember the last time he was on home. It was his first and last all rolled into one as he never stepped foot off of it since he was born. He grew up with the water lapping at his toes, the sand sticking to his skin. He grew up with the sun burning his arms and the dirt digging itself under his nails. It was a quiet life there, less than a hundred people in their village. He couldn't remember any of their names now. Save for two. Maybe three.

He wonders how many of them are still there, in the static life that the island tends to breed. Wake up, work, sleep. Nowhere to go, no one new to meet, just the same people, same duties every single day. The only change that ever happened was when the fisherman came back for the off-season and even that got boring after the first few years.

Kyungsoo taps his knuckles against window beside him as the bus rolls down the empty country roads. It's an old song, one his father used to hum as he worked in the fields, an old sea shanty, one that almost died with his father's crew back when most of them drowned out at sea. He can feel a few eyes on him as the melody finishes playing in his head but he doesn't turn to meet them.

After a few hours, the seats start to empty out. It makes only a few stops but each one leaves Kyungsoo's hands shaking at his sides. He hasn't checked the time since Yifan called hours ago and he's too afraid to do so now, knowing that the bus ride was only five hours. He knuckles at this eyelids and leans forward in his seat. The leather creaks under his jeans.

He glances around the large bus only to find one other person as a passenger. An old woman, asleep near the front. She must have missed her stop. Kyungsoo couldn't see her getting off at the same place as himself. He sighs and gets up from his seat, his legs aching from sitting for almost five hours. He sways slightly as he makes his way up to the driver, and he taps her shoulder gently even though she smiled at him through the large mirror up above the windshield.

"I think she might have missed her stop," Kyungsoo says nodding his head towards the slumbering woman.

The driver laughs and shakes her head, "She didn't, don't worry. Thanks for your worry."

Kyungsoo feels his face heat up and he ducks his head, nodding slightly. Of course, she would know. She checks the tickets. "Right, sorry. I wasn't trying to say you couldn't do your job."

"I wasn't offended," She tells him. "She's my mother, that's why I know that she didn't miss it."

"Oh."

"She likes the country so she comes along when I do this route. Even if she falls asleep every time." She says endearingly.

Kyungsoo nods again, at loss for what else to say, and shuffles back to his seat. His phone vibrates in his pocket and Kyungsoo pulls it out, a bit confused. The bright screen illuminates the back of the bus and he struggles with the settings as he turns it down. There are a few texts from Yifan sitting on his lock-screen, all time-stamped from a few hours ago. His gaze flickers up to the signal bar on the top left corner, it's holding on with only one. He must have just passed an area with reception.

There's just three. Two of them consisting of safe wishes and I love yous. The other one though has Kyungsoo scratching his head, it seems to be the continuation of an entirely different conversation. Kyungsoo can't really decipher it but he assumes the accompanying messages got lost in the lack of service.

"Last stop." The driver calls out and Kyungsoo looks up from his phone to give her a small smile as he slides back out of his seat.

It's completely black outside. The only source of lights being the few street lamps scattered around the dock and the flickering lamp outside the store settled in the dirt beside it. Barely only a second outside and he can already feel the salt water clinging to his skin. He hauls the side compartment open and pulls his bag out. Not entirely sure what to do next he taps loudly on the side of the bus. The engine starts and Kyungsoo backs up to save himself from being squashed.

The gravel crunches under his shoes and it matches the sounds of the waves crashing against the wood in front of him. It's then that Kyungsoo noticed that there aren't any boats docked. He jogs over to the store where he distantly remembers a boat schedule being stuck in the window a few years ago, Goheung county never changes, so why should that? True to his memory there's a poorly laminated paper taped to the inside of the grimy window, and it says there isn't an official boat to the island till the morning.

Kyungsoo groans loudly. There's no way he can find a place to stay this late at night. He pulls his bag up off the ground and hoists it over his shoulder. In the darkness, he can see the silhouette of a bench on the dock, if he can't find anything he can just knock out there for a few hours, despite the growing knot in stomach telling him not to. He shuffles over to it and plops down, setting his bag beside him.

The sound of the ocean behind him does little to calm his fraying nerves. If anything it makes him anxious. He leans over his legs and presses the heels of his palms against his eyes, moves them to cover his ears. He tries to drown out the sound of the waves with his own thoughts and is left with nothing but heartache as they're filled with nothing but his estranged father.

Kyungsoo never knew his mother, having lost during his own birth, but his father had always been enough for him growing up. But it wasn't like he had to raise Kyungsoo all by himself, Seungsoo was there and while he had known their mother he never held it against him like he knew Soojung used to do to her younger sister when things got unruly between them. With the both of them, Kyungsoo liked to think he grew up into a respectable person, or he used to be. That part of him might have gone down with the wreck that used to be the Oh family's fishing boat.

Something loud blares out across the water and Kyungsoo jumps at the noise. It's gone as quickly as it came but it still rings in Kyungsoo's ears. He turns around to face the water, where the island sits. It's too dark to make out even the shape but he knows it's there. Someone there knows he coming. He called the number back as soon as he got home and even though he was sent straight to voicemail he made sure to leave a message. He didn't know who it was. It could have been anyone and something tightens inside Kyungsoo's chest.

He wonders if the person heard the message, if they told anyone. Would they care at all?  He knows one person who wouldn't, and Kyungsoo is going to do his very best to make sure he doesn't see them. It's one thing to know of someone being there, but to see them in person is an entirely different story, and Kyungsoo isn't sure he's mentally prepared to have that confrontation.

He's shaken from his thoughts by another loud noise, the sound of someone cursing, and Kyungsoo turns towards it. He's surprised to see that there is, in fact, a boat tied up at the end of the harbor, a small one, with a dying oil lamp wobbling on the side.

Kyungsoo pushes himself off of the bench and grabs his bag. It's heavy under his palm and he throws it over his shoulder. The man on the boat hasn't seemed to have noticed another person in the harbor and Kyungsoo walks up quietly, worried that he might startle him. The light doesn't do much for the area, Kyungsoo still has to squint to see him in the darkness and he finds himself intrigued by the fact that the man is so young. He's probably around Kyungsoo's age, maybe a bit older. In the dark he can see that he's donning a rather large hat atop his head and is dressed for the fall, a large sweater drowning his lithe body like it's not the middle of the summer and Kyungsoo isn't sweating through his shirt.

He coughs into his palm to get his attention. Nothing.

"Hello?' Kyungsoo calls out. The other man jumps at the sound much like Kyungsoo just did earlier and he turns, his eyes wide. "Are you, by any chance, heading to the island tonight?"

The man takes a few steps closer, grabbing the oil lamp off the side of the boat mid-step and holds it up against Kyungsoo's face. The light illuminates the space between them and Kyungsoo is once against surprised, he doesn't seem to be the only one though. The man's mouth has fallen open slightly and his dark eyebrows are furrowed together atop his eyes. His head tilts slightly and the lamp shakes in his grip.

Kyungsoo raises his hand and points out across the water. "Are you going there?"

The man blinks and takes a step back. "Yeah I am, I was just about to weigh anchor." He smiles and it seems so familiar that Kyungsoo feels like he's eight years old again and back in the fields behind his house. The dialect of the island sits oddly in his ears and it takes Kyungsoo a few moments to reconfigure it inside his mind. "You caught me at a good time."

Kyungsoo nods and steps onto the boat after the man makes a great show of bowing and extending his hand for him. His bag lands heavily on the sea slick floor. He watches the man go around the side of the boat and untie the ropes that are attaching it to the dock, they land just like his bag on the floor, a few of them landing on top of it. Kyungsoo crinkles his nose and kicks his bag off to the side. The man seems a bit clumsy and while he might be a nice person, he'd probably throw him off the side of the boat if he hurt himself because of him and Kyungsoo isn't the biggest fan of the ocean.

He shuffles over to the standing shelter and ducks underneath it. There's a soft hum coming from the other man's lips and while Kyungsoo doesn't know the particular song it doesn't stop him from leaning against the side of the shelter and listening to it.

"What brings you to the island?" He asks a few minutes later when the sound of the engine and waves doesn't seem to be enough to settle his bones.

Kyungsoo licks his lips and his eyes flicker to the man's hands on the wheel. There's a faint scar on his thumb that Kyungsoo can make out with the lamp hanging between them and he's hit with another wave of nostalgia. The man seems so familiar and yet his name escapes him.

"Family." Is all Kyungsoo answers and the man hums in reply.

"That's a good enough reason," He says, "You must not come here often then."

Kyungsoo turns, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you didn't know the boat schedule."  
  
Kyungsoo scoffs. "That's hardly a reason."

The man laughs, "It's a completely viable reason. Everyone who visits regularly knows that there isn't a boat on Sundays." Kyungsoo frowns slightly. He opens his mouth to ask why, because back when Kyungsoo lived there they had boats out every day, and two on Sundays. Something must have happened but he doesn't think he has the privilege to ask anymore.

"I don't." Kyungsoo says a few seconds later, "I mean...I haven't been back in... a while."

The man hums. "I know."

Kyungsoo leans his back against the side of the shelter and crosses his bare arms against his chest. The structure of the boat is shaking with the force of the small engine at the back and Kyungsoo wonders how old this boat really is. It sounds like it's going to fall apart under their feet with nothing but a little more force. He stretches his fingers against his biceps and they twitch restlessly against his arm and he tries to decipher what the man means by that. "You know?"

He doesn't answer. Instead, he takes a few steps back from the wheel and leans on the wall opposite of Kyungsoo. He's still steering with one of his hands but Kyungsoo's eyes keep darting to the empty space in the water in front of them.

"I know." He says again and Kyungsoo twists his lips in frustration. "You actually haven't been here in quite a while."

Kyungsoo exhales deeply. "Do you know me?"

The man pouts then, his bottom lip poking out from his top and Kyungsoo's eyes widen. He presses his index finger into his cheek and pops his hip out to the side. "Did you forget about me Kyungsoo-yah?" He asks then, in the cutest voice the other could probably muster. Kyungsoo feels his teeth rotting just listening to it.

He's struck with several things in that moment. One of them being Byun Baekhyun himself. He throws himself onto Kyungsoo's stiff body and they both fall onto the wet floor with a resounding oomph falling from both of their mouths. The water soaks into the back of his pants and his shirt and Baekhyun is holding his cheeks in both of his freckles hands.

"I can't believe you forgot about me Soo-yah!" He exclaims, pinching Kyungsoo's cheeks together between his grimy hands. "How rude! I thought we were friends."

They had been. Good friends to be exact. He had always gotten upset with the fact that Kyungsoo refused to call him is best-friend but that title had been exclusive for one specific person. They grew up a few houses from each other, both of their brothers working on the same boat and fathers the same field. One time his father walked in on them with Baekhyun's tongue down halfway down Kyungsoo's throat because he was trying to practice for the real deal with Kim Jongdae, one of the other boys on the island. He wonders how his father took the news of his father's death.

"It's been a long time," Kyungsoo tells him after he's pulled his fingers away from his face. "I'm lucky I remember the island itself."

Baekhyun shakes his head and gets up off the floor. His pants are soaking wet but whether that's from now or before is anyone's guess. He steps back over to the wheel and turns it around a few times. "Six years isn't enough time to forget your friends." He mumbles, and Kyungsoo isn't sure if he was supposed to hear it.

"It is if you try hard enough."

*

 

The boat docks silently and when Kyungsoo shudders slightly under the weight Baekhyun laughs under his breath as he steps off the boat, a few boxes of who knows what in his hands. The docks are completely empty and it sends an odd feeling down the back of his neck. The other boats sway back and forth against the current and the sound should be calming but it only reminds Kyungsoo too much of the night he left.

"Are you coming or are you gonna sleep on my boat?" Baekhyun calls out from the other end of the dock. "I mean, you can if you want. I'd understand why."

It's the first mention of anything even  _ remotely _ related to the reason for his anxiety and Kyungsoo tries to laugh, but Baekhyun looks almost concerned as Kyungsoo brushes it off.  "If you want you can stay with my mom and me?" He offers quietly as they start walking towards the center of town. Kyungsoo cocks his head to the side, confused.

"Why would I need to do that?" He asks, "I still have the key to my father's place, and unless he changed the locks on the gate I think I'm fine."

Baekhyun's mouth opens slightly but he closes it a second later. Kyungsoo can see the words sitting on the side of his lips but he doesn't say anything else. Kyungsoo watches him as they climb the ramp-like streets. The stones are stacked high beside them and the grass has grown over so much that the only way Kyungsoo knows that there are stones there in the first place is because of how many times he and his friends raced each other through these streets.

When they get to the middle of the town Baekhyun sets the boxes down and pulls Kyungsoo into a bone crushing hug. It feels weird to be hugged by someone his height after having his towering boyfriend Yifan as his only source of intimacy for the last few years. He pats him on the back and asks if he remembers the way back to his father's house. Kyungsoo looks back for a moment towards the road leading into the forest and nods.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" He asks and Kyungsoo takes a moment to think before nodding again. "Good, we have a lot to catch up on seeing as I'm your new best friend around here."

He smiles and taps his fingers against his temple in a small salute but Kyungsoo can see the sadness in his eyes as he walks away. But it could have just been his own reflected in them. The sentence weighs heavily on him. He never even thought about that. Baekhyun might as well be his only friend here, seeing as his last impressions with everyone else weren't the best they could have been.

 

*  
  


The house is actually further than Kyungsoo remembers, maybe it was just his youthful legs that carried him from the docks in quick succession or maybe the weight of what he's really here for is really starting to settle now. He doesn't come into contact with anyone other than Baekhyun as he weaves through the cobbled streets but there's a light on in a house up the hill and Kyungsoo stops for a moment to catch his breath. It's a couple sitting at the dinner table, he can see the laughter falling from their lips as they talk. The woman gets up a few seconds later to shut the curtains, their eyes meet for a moment and Kyungsoo tucks his chin down and continues walking.

The road forks off into a dirt path not much further up and Kyungsoo veers off onto it. There aren't that many houses on this side of the island save for Kyungsoo's own and Baekhyun's but the community is close enough that no one feels isolated no matter where they settle. After another couple of minutes of walking, he seems the almost unfamiliar gates up ahead. He leans over slightly and fishes the key out of his pocket before continuing on.

There are tall stone walls near his home as well as lining the streets. Kyungsoo's own father piled them up years ago even if they weren't close enough to the water to be tormented by the ever blowing breeze. He drags his outstretched hand across it, the tips of his fingers barely brushing against them before he stops in front of the gate. He shoves the old key into the lock and pushes heavily against the rusting metal. A loud gasp falls from his lips when he stumbles forward, the gate pushing open rather easily.

He trips over the slight drop following the gate but luckily he catches himself before he falls face first into the dirt. Not that there'd be anyone around to see such a thing. He blows his bangs out of his eyes and dusts the front of his pants off as he walks forward, his eyes on the ground.

"Can I help you?"

Kyungsoo's eyes widen and he stands up from where he's bent over in front of the stranger, a bit dejected that his eyes only come to the bottom of the man's shoulders. He takes a few steps back and almost trips over his bag that he dropped during his previous stumble. The man's arms twitch at his sides like he wants to reach out. The yard in front of his father's house is just as dark as the rest of the island and Kyungsoo can't exactly depict any of the features on the other person's face. He knows they're tall, but lots of people are tall compared to him.

"This is my house." Kyungsoo says, eying the man carefully."Can I help you?"

The man laughs quietly and the sound rips Kyungsoo's heart into shreds at the mere timber of it. "This isn't anyone's house, you must be lost."

Kyungsoo crosses his arms against his chest. "I'm not lost, this is my father's house."

This earns another chuckle and Kyungsoo shrinks. "The man who owned this house previously didn't have any kids -- Wait.." He takes a few steps forward and struggles with something at his side. There's a soft click and then Kyungsoo is squinting against a harsh light. He raises his hand to shield his eyes. "Kyungsoo?" Something falls to the ground after his name is said but Kyungsoo doesn't have the brain capacity to compute what it is.

When Kyungsoo received that phone call this morning he never expected to be face-to-face with Park Chanyeol so soon. He can taste bile at the back of his throat.

Kyungsoo swallows against the dryness of his tongue and shuffles backward. His hands shake slightly at his sides and Chanyeol matches his steps with one of his own, keeping them in close proximity. Kyungsoo's mouth opens and while nothing comes out but a shaky breath he shakes his head as Chanyeol continues to step forward.

"What are you doing here?" He asks after they've made their way back several feet. The darkness is thick around them, Chanyeol's flashlight off on the ground somewhere, rolling around on the uneven earth but Kyungsoo's eyes have adjusted enough for him to finally be able to make out his face in front of him. He looks exactly the same as he did six years ago and Kyungsoo doesn't know if that's a good thing or not. His long dark hair frames his face and while it's longer than Kyungsoo's ever seen it on him, brushing against his shoulders, it makes him look youthful. His eyes are shimmering behind the large glasses perched on his nose and Kyungsoo knows that if he pushes the frames off that he'd be able to count the endless of freckles dusting his sun-kissed skin.

Kyungsoo can feel his face burning under Chanyeol's gaze but he refuses to look away. "My father died."

Chanyeol gives him an exasperated look. "I know that." His eyes flicker down to the ground and it's then that Kyungsoo notices the puffiness of them. "But what are you doing here? Why did you come back?"

"I don't know what you want me to say." Kyungsoo reaches down and grabs his bag off the ground. "I'm here because my father wanted me to be."

Chanyeol turns and follows him into the dimly lit house. Kyungsoo turns the lights on as he walks through the main threshold and while they flicker for a beat they hold up in the end, brightening up each room. He doesn't have time to reminisce in his first return home though, not with Chanyeol looming behind him.  "Your father wanted you to be here lots of times Kyungsoo, most of them being when he was alive."

Kyungsoo lurches forward like a knife has been stuck in his back and he stumbles forward for the second time that night. He can't remember the last time he cried but here he is with tears threatening to spill out of his eyes as he presses his palms into a dresser standing by the main entrance. His words wake something deep in Kyungsoo and it takes everything in him not to break down, not to collapse on the ground and beg his father, his long dead family members for forgiveness.

"I'm not having this conversation with you right now." He says instead. "I don't know why you were here-- if someone told you I was coming today, but leave." He takes a step away from the entrance and walks further into the small house. His heart is thumping impressively loud beneath his ribs and he wonders if Chanyeol can hear it, if he even cares. He flicks the lights as he continues in, surprised to find how clean it is, even when his father was alive and Kyungsoo was living here there had always been at least some semblance of mess somewhere; muddy shoe prints across the floor, dust collecting on the shelves, but there was nothing. "I'm going to bed, you can show yourself out."

Chanyeol laughs behind him, not a scoff, not an offensive sound but an actual laugh, like Kyungsoo had something genuinely funny. Kyungsoo turns at the sound, it's an effective way to slow his heart and it drops into his stomach as he hits his hand against the closest wall. It sounds like the sun on a hot summer's day, like their feet pounding against the solid earth as they chase each other through the streets.

"You've changed quite a bit there owl-eyes."  He leans up against the arch connecting the living area and the entrance, Kyungsoo's eye twitches at the old nickname. "I didn't think you would, but you look so different on the outside I guess the inside kind of followed suit." 

Kyungsoo doesn't know what he means but that. His gaze drops onto the mirror resting in the corner of the room and he stares at himself, grimacing as he meets his reflection's eyes. Compared to Chanyeol, who in the bright light of the house looks healthy and almost like he did a few years ago, he looks sickly. His skin is a pasty white complexion from lack of sun, spending most of his days either inside the office or holed up in his room drawing panel after panel and the dark bruises under his eyes don't help.

"Can you just leave please?" It comes out weak, one last plea.

"I live here Kyungsoo, if anything, you need to leave."

Kyungsoo feels seven years old again suddenly, with his head submerged in the wells murky water and Chanyeol standing above him like he did, grinning like he wasn't the cause for him to fall. He isn't grinning now though, and it leaves something hollow in his voice.

"You live here?" He asks, "Why?"

Chanyeol rolls his eyes but doesn't move from his spot against the arch. His hands are curled into fists at his sides.

"I worked for him, your father," Chanyeol says and while the _after you left_ is left unsaid Kyungsoo can still hear it in his voice, "He needed help in the fields, in here, so he let me stay with him."

Kyungsoo, at loss for words and almost everything else, just nods. His mind is reeling with information it doesn't know what to do with. Chanyeol is living in his father's house. Chanyeol continued his relationship with his father after Kyungsoo left. He presses an open palm against his forehead and casts his gaze back onto the floor.

"I can't do this right now," Kyungsoo tells him and he pushes past him to make a turn down into the hallway where his old bedroom is. He can hear Chanyeol following him. He doesn't turn around to say anything else, he's weary all the way down to his bones and all he wants to is sleep. 

Chanyeol makes a distant noise in the back of his throat as Kyungsoo slides the bedroom door open and he stops in his tracks a few feet away as Kyungsoo just stares into the very lived in room.

There's a large mat spread out across the floor and several empty soju bottles lined up across the windowsill still dripping condensation above it, along with a guitar propped up against the furthest wall. The frown that drags at Kyungsoo's lips is for more than one reason. The first one being that in his flurry of emotions he seemed to forget that the island lacked western style beds and the second, the most obvious one, being that Chanyeol has commandeered his bedroom.

Kyungsoo glances over at him and he's shocked to find him staring Kyungsoo down, rather than hanging his head and acting like kicked puppy. His eyebrows are drawn tight across his forehead and his lips are pressed down into a tight line and Kyungsoo loses all the fight he had left in his bones, no matter how bad Chanyeol wants one right now, he just doesn't have the energy. Kyungsoo shakes his head and turns his attention to the two other doors in the hallway. He doesn't want to open either of them.

"I'm gonna sleep on the couch," Kyungsoo says, eyes burning into the door leading to his brother's old room. Chanyeol doesn't answer and Kyungsoo doesn't expect him to. He pushes past Kyungsoo's small frame and slams the sliding door shut behind him. A lamp flickers on a few seconds later and it casts Chanyeol's shadow against the thin door, it's all blending into one dark color but Kyungsoo sees him sitting on his mat, his head in his hands. He's twisting something small between his fingers and Kyungsoo watches for another few seconds before sauntering back into the living room to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! if you have any questions feel free to ask them, i'll get back to you as soon as i can!!
> 
> i made a new twitter specifically for writing [here](http://twitter.com/saitwatersea) or if you want you can hmu on my main acc [here](http://twitter.com/deadpyeoi)


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